sivrajbm wrote:
Anyone on here buy from these guys? Resellersratings.com says they don't participate in their ratings programs.

I bought my 5D3 from them back in October. I initially got a phone message saying they needed to talk to me about my order. I feared "oh great, here comes the usual call me to try and sell some overpriced accessories or else cancel the order" BS. I tried to return the call, but the specific person was out or something. I never got in touch with him and didn't get any more calls, but the camera was shipped the same day and it all was exactly as advertised.

It's a great price for a brand new camera body. Heck, it is selling for about the same as most used bodies with 25,000 - 75,000 actuations (which don't come with a warranty either). Technically, Canon's warranty only covers the original buyer (though they rarely enforce this with a receipt). They also regularly service "gray market" items with a receipt and pretty much always cover "unauthorized US product".

It's not just the warranty. Gray market products are also harder to sell down the road. Many buyers will ask about this even if the warranty has already ended, and it will usually sell at a lower price.

The price on the 1DX is getting lower every month in most countries, so it's strange that the big shops in the US don't lower their price. A new 1DX from most shops in Bangkok cost $ 5200-5400 with warranty

mehrdad sadat wrote:
the camera is not us warranty so for the first year it will be a risk, after that same boat as everybody else

I bought a grey market 5D3 from eBay (it did not come with a US warranty card). I called Canon USA to ask them if it would be covered under warranty, and this is what they told me:

1. If you bought the camera new in the US and have a receipt to prove it, we will very likely provide warranty service for the item, even if the seller is not an authorized Canon reseller.

2. The warranty ONLY applies to the first owner. If you buy a camera with US warranty used on these forums, as the second owner you will NOT be covered under the warranty even though the camera was originally purchased new from an authorized US reseller.

Canon USA has provided warranty service on grey market cameras to me in the past without any issues. They fixed a broken dial on my EOS 5 (film) camera even though the 5 was never officially sold in the US.

Bottom line: if you can find a great deal on a new grey market camera, buy it. There is a very small chance Canon may not service it under warranty, but the hundreds you potentially save more than offsets the risk in my opinion.